Within Dighton Wave
What Happened in Pam Krehbiel's Roadside Encounter?
Krehbiel recalled a light approaching her car, but the later dead-plant circle was never scientifically tied to the sighting.
On this page
- The light seen from the car
- The smell and dead plant circle
- Why the physical evidence claim remained weak
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Introduction
Pam Krehbiel’s roadside encounter is one of the most frequently repeated personal stories from the 1972 Dighton sighting wave, but it is also a useful example of how a striking witness experience can become linked to much weaker physical-evidence claims. Krehbiel, then an 18-year-old from rural Lane County, reported that an unusual light approached her car while she and a friend were driving home at night. The following day, a circle of damaged plants was reportedly found in a nearby field, and some later retellings connected the two events. The problem is that no scientific investigation ever established a link between the sighting and the vegetation damage. As a result, the case remains notable as witness testimony but not as convincing physical evidence.[LJWorld.com]www2.ljworld.comShe was only 18. Krehbielrecalls UFO sightings of 1972 | News, Sports, JobsAugust 29, 2010 — 29 Aug 2010 — Now living in Omaha, Pam Krehbiel Schnuelle said she do…
Within the wider Dighton wave, which also included reports from police officers and other local residents, Krehbiel’s account stands out because it involved a claimed close approach rather than a distant light on the horizon. Yet the strongest part of the story is the eyewitness report itself; the crop-circle element is considerably less secure.
The Light Seen From the Car
According to Krehbiel’s later recollections, the incident occurred during the summer phase of the 1972 sightings. She and a friend were driving home from a baseball game in Scott City to the Krehbiel family farm near Amy, Kansas, at around 10 p.m. They initially noticed what appeared to be a bright star in the north-eastern sky. The object then seemed to move erratically, becoming brighter and dimmer as it changed position.[LJWorld.com]www2.ljworld.comShe was only 18. Krehbielrecalls UFO sightings of 1972 | News, Sports, JobsAugust 29, 2010 — 29 Aug 2010 — Now living in Omaha, Pam Krehbiel Schnuelle said she do…
Krehbiel said the light behaved unlike any ordinary star or planet she had previously seen. What transformed the sighting from a curious observation into a memorable encounter was the apparent approach toward the vehicle. In her account, the object came much closer, eventually seeming to fill a large portion of the windscreen. She estimated that it approached to within roughly 100 yards of the car.[LJWorld.com]www2.ljworld.comShe was only 18. Krehbielrecalls UFO sightings of 1972 | News, Sports, JobsAugust 29, 2010 — 29 Aug 2010 — Now living in Omaha, Pam Krehbiel Schnuelle said she do…
From an evidential standpoint, this is the core event. Unlike reports from police officers who were often observing lights at uncertain distances across open prairie, Krehbiel believed the object closed the gap dramatically. However, the observation still took place at night, without independent measurements, photographs, radar data or multiple observation points. That means estimates of distance, size and speed remain subjective.
The Smell and Dead-Plant Circle
A less widely documented part of the story concerns what was allegedly found the next morning. Later accounts associated with the Dighton wave describe a circular patch of damaged or dead vegetation discovered after Krehbiel’s sighting. Some versions also mention an unusual smell connected with the area.
These details attracted attention because physical traces are often treated as potentially stronger evidence than eyewitness testimony alone. A circle of dead plants, if reliably documented and scientifically examined, could in principle provide information about heat, chemicals, disease, soil conditions or some other environmental factor.
In practice, however, the available information is sparse. There is no known published scientific analysis of the vegetation, no laboratory testing, and no documented chain of evidence linking the damaged plants to the light seen from the road. The reports survive primarily through witness recollections and later retellings of the Dighton events rather than through contemporaneous technical investigation.[LJWorld.com]www2.ljworld.comShe was only 18. Krehbielrecalls UFO sightings of 1972 | News, Sports, JobsAugust 29, 2010 — 29 Aug 2010 — Now living in Omaha, Pam Krehbiel Schnuelle said she do…
Why the Physical-Evidence Claim Remained Weak
The main difficulty with the dead-plant circle claim is not that it was disproved, but that it was never properly established in the first place.
Several evidential gaps remain:
- No verified observation placed the light directly over the location where the plants were later found.
- No scientific testing appears to have been carried out on the vegetation or soil.
- No measurements were published that could determine whether the damaged area was unusual for local agricultural conditions.
- The time sequence alone does not demonstrate causation; a plant-damage pattern found after a sighting is not necessarily related to it.
Because of these gaps, investigators and historians of the Kansas sightings generally treat the vegetation story with caution. The damaged circle may have been real, but the crucial question is whether it had any connection to the reported aerial phenomenon. The available evidence does not answer that question.[LJWorld.com]www2.ljworld.comShe was only 18. Krehbielrecalls UFO sightings of 1972 | News, Sports, JobsAugust 29, 2010 — 29 Aug 2010 — Now living in Omaha, Pam Krehbiel Schnuelle said she do…
This distinction is important. In UFO history, physical-trace claims often gain prominence because they seem more objective than witness testimony. Yet without documentation, sampling or independent analysis, such traces can add mystery without substantially increasing evidential strength.
What the Case Contributes to the Dighton Wave
Krehbiel’s experience illustrates both the appeal and the limitations of the 1972 Dighton reports. Her account provides a vivid personal description of a light that appeared to manoeuvre and approach a vehicle, making it one of the more dramatic witness narratives from the wave.[LJWorld.com]www2.ljworld.comShe was only 18. Krehbielrecalls UFO sightings of 1972 | News, Sports, JobsAugust 29, 2010 — 29 Aug 2010 — Now living in Omaha, Pam Krehbiel Schnuelle said she do…
At the same time, the associated crop-circle story demonstrates how quickly a sighting can acquire a physical-evidence component that is difficult to verify decades later. The roadside encounter remains part of Kansas UFO history because it reflects what witnesses believed they experienced during the Dighton flap. The alleged circle of dead plants, however, remains an unconfirmed secondary claim rather than established evidence.
For that reason, the case is best understood as a noteworthy witness report accompanied by a physical-trace story that was never scientifically tied to the sighting. The encounter remains unresolved, but the evidential weight rests primarily on Krehbiel’s testimony rather than on the later reports of damaged vegetation.[LJWorld.com]www2.ljworld.comShe was only 18. Krehbielrecalls UFO sightings of 1972 | News, Sports, JobsAugust 29, 2010 — 29 Aug 2010 — Now living in Omaha, Pam Krehbiel Schnuelle said she do…
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Endnotes
1.
Source: www2.ljworld.com
Title: She was only 18. Krehbiel
Link:https://www2.ljworld.com/news/2010/aug/29/dighton-recalls-ufo-sightings-1972/
Source snippet
recalls UFO sightings of 1972 | News, Sports, JobsAugust 29, 2010 — 29 Aug 2010 — Now living in Omaha, Pam Krehbiel Schnuelle said she do...
Published: August 29, 2010
Additional References
2.
Source: archive.org
Link:https://archive.org/stream/classifiedcatal07carn/classifiedcatal07carn_djvu.txt
Source snippet
Full text of "Classified catalog of the Carnegie library...Full text of "Classified catalog of the Carnegie library of Pittsburgh: 1895...
3.
Source: archive.org
Title: Full text of “Middlebury College magazine
Link:https://archive.org/stream/middleburyNewspapers_Newsletter_1999_V73N02/Newsletter_1999_V73N02_djvu.txt
Source snippet
Vol. 73, No. 2“my people are dead, and that is my truth,” tens of thousands of people were killed because of the suspi¬ “And you see a UF...
4.
Source: archive.org
Link:https://archive.org/stream/royalpurple1976unse/royalpurple1976unse_djvu.txt
Source snippet
e concert's first number to the encore's last...Read more...
5.
Source: archive.org
Link:https://archive.org/stream/royalpurple1991unse/royalpurple1991unse_djvu.txt
Source snippet
d student invention and excellence.Read more...
6.
Source: archive.org
Title: royalpurple1984unse djvu.txt
Link:https://archive.org/stream/royalpurple1984unse/royalpurple1984unse_djvu.txt
Source snippet
Full text of "Royal purple"Full text of "Royal purple". See other formats. Prosresslbns Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with fu...
7.
Source: archive.org
Title: royalpurple2009unse djvu.txt
Link:https://archive.org/stream/royalpurple2009unse/royalpurple2009unse_djvu.txt
Source snippet
Full text of "Royal purple"He married Neilia Hunter, but she died in a car accident in 1972.... Alien Non-Residents." Norhattan said he...
8.
Source: youtube.com
Title: Science Based Evidence May Indicate That UFO Landed In US Farm | Alien Contact
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFEgZJr_Jkw
Source snippet
4 Cowboys, UFOs, and Distant Horizons with Jim Gray | Kansas Space Cowboy...
9.
Source: youtube.com
Title: Family Has Permanent Physical Health Problems After UFO Encounter
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD_oVY8XA0M
Source snippet
3 Science Based Evidence May Indicate That UFO Landed In US Farm | Alien Contact...
10.
Source: youtube.com
Title: Cowboys, UFOs, and Distant Horizons with Jim Gray | Kansas Space Cowboy
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eytikTfto4k
Source snippet
5 The Invitation: John Codling's art for aliens...
11.
Source: youtube.com
Title: The Greatest UFO Testimony of All Time
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hU8MPs1rc9U
Source snippet
2 Family Has Permanent Physical Health Problems After UFO Encounter...